The second planned march against agricultural giant Monsanto takes place around the world this weekend. The protesters are rallying against the company’s use of genetically modified organisms and trying to raise awareness about its corporate practices.

Sunday, October 13

06:00 GMT: Protesters in Washington told RT’s
Anissa Naouai that Monsanto lobbyists were hard at work even
though the government was shut down. March organizers also said
that Saturday’s event was just the beginning, and that the
momentum for the protests would build.

03:27 GMT: March against Monsanto in Dallas
Texas united under the slogan ‘GMO has got to go.’

“GMO crops cause super weeds/super pests—requiring greater
quantities and stronger versions of insecticide/herbicide poisons
in all foods produced with GMOs,” organizers said in a press
release.

03:06 GMT: Activists in Temecula, California
stood on the side of the road exposing Monsanto’s dark history
with Agent Orange used by the US military during the Vietnam War.
The Red Cross of Vietnam estimates that up to 1 million people
are disabled or have health problems due to Agent Orange.

02:33 GMT: At a rally in Calgary security
officials threaten to rescind protest permit next to the city
hall.

02:15 GMT: In Las Vegas the crowd marched to the
courthouse in effort to protect food production.

02:04 GMT: Monsanto protests in Seattle have
been tied to a rally in support for the I-522 initiative in the
Washington State Legislature, which concerns labeling of
genetically-engineered foods. “I don't know what's wrong with
labeling, it's not stopping them but it's giving us a choice
about whether they want to eat it or not,” I-522 supporter
Ingrid Hinton told King5 news.

01:50 GMT: Hawaiians are marching and organizing
sit ins to protect their crops against genetic modification.
“For too long Monsanto and other biotech companies have used
our beautiful islands as a testing ground for GMO crops,”
the organizers posted on their Facebook page.

01:32 GMT: Jane Hash, a blogger and food safety
advocate addressed the crowd in Cleveland Ohio on Saturday.
Living with Osteogenesis imperfecta (Brittle Bones Disease), she
told the crowd the bio chemical industry could be responsible for
her disability.

“I will never know if GMOs or glyphosate caused my
disability. But I strongly suspect that they were a contributing
factor.”

Ahead of the march, organizers have circulated a call to action
against Monsanto and GMO.

“Most GMO products are produced and distributed by Monsanto.
This company has shut down many non-GMO farms or has even placed
their GMO seed in non-GMO crops. Monsanto is not only highly
protected by the government but many previous Monsanto employees
are now working for the government. This is why the government
believes that GMO products are considered safe and do not require
any sort of testing or labeling,” the document read.

01:19 GMT: In this year’s report by the Yale
School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, one of every
three bites of food depends on the pollinators, especially bees.
But the research asserts that in the last decade beekeepers, in
the US and Europe have seen losses of 30 percent or higher in the
number of bees.

By dressing up as bees protesters in Washington DC want to make
agro business take responsibility for their farming methods.

01:03 GMT: More than 500 protesters turned up at
Monsanto world headquarters in St. Louis, chanting anti-Monsanto
slogans.

Speakers at the rally drew attention to the problems they are
facing from the agro business and their monopoly on the seed
market.

“We have the largest collection of non-GMO corn, wheat and
soybeans in this area,” Organic farmer Mark Brown told the
protesters. “If you know a farmer who would like to drop
their Monsanto contract and get seed (from) us for free, send
them to us.”

As bee populations decline, some researchers have pointed the
finger at an agricultural system that relies heavily on chemicals
and monocultures, farmers have warned of problems pollinating
plants and in honey production.

“If we have another year like this summer with massive bee
kills — if we have a couple more of those years, the bees are
going to be gone,” Mary Wirz was quoted by St. Louis Post
Dispatch newspaper. “And the food source is going to be
gone.”

00:40 GMT: In Ontario, Canada where Monsanto has
a number of facilities including the Soybean Research Facility
and Corn Research Facility, a crowd marched to Ontario's Health
Minister’s office to distribute literature as part of March
Against Monsanto.

00:23 GMT: Accompanied by the Brass Liberation
Orchestra, San Francisco protestors marched across the nearly
9,000 foot bridge in solidarity with protesters around the world.

Eric Eberman, one of the organizers, said he got involved in the
movement after one of his family members died last March from
colon cancer. "He had been exposed to agricultural chemicals
as a child when he worked on a farm in Mexico," Eberman told
KCET, an independent public television station located from Los
Angeles. "I was seeking some way to express my anger at his
premature and painful death and found a creative way to do so via
March Against Monsanto."

00:02 GMT: Vancouver’s March Against Monsanto
attracted hundreds of supporters eager to raise their voices
against genetically modified food and the biotech industry.
“Do we want labels on this Frankenfood so that we can make
better choices for ourselves and our families? YES,” the
activists said in their march.

Saturday, October 12

23:57 GMT: ‘Either we stand together or we die
alone song’ was the name of the anthem especially written to be
performed on World Food Day anti Monsanto rally in Albany, New
York. The song expresses the danger of eating GMO foods and
products.

23:41 GMT: A small group of protesters have
gathered outside Senator Debbie Stabenow’s office in Detroit,
Michigan. Activists have called on the politician to preserve the
planet.

23:32 GMT: In Calgary, Canada a group of elderly
demonstrators have decided to sing ‘Old Monsanto Had A Farm’ as
part of the march against Monsanto.

23:27 GMT: More than 100 people have met on City
Hall Plaza to yell at Monsanto in downtown Boston. Activists
posted a video wrapping up the events, sharing their reflections
on global food industry.

23:14 GMT: The Millions Against Monsanto protest
took an interesting turn in Tampa Florida. Also known as
'Musicians Against Monsanto' a group of resident musicians
gathered to take action and educate others about Monsanto and
genetically modified foods.

“As Gandhi said; ‘first they ignore you, then they
laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win,’ and ‘whenever
you are confronted with an opponent. Conquer him with
love,’” their Facebook page reads.

23:05 GMT: Over one thousand people marched from
Plaza Italia in Santiago de Chile to the park Matta Bustamante
earlier on Saturday. Dancing and singing the group chose a
colorful way to express their dissatisfaction with the agro
chemical industry.

22:52 GMT: A family-friendly rally complete with
speakers, music, and face painting have assembled in Lexington,
Kentucky. The protesters have gathered to demand “corporate
responsibility and to make sure our food will always be safe for
our children.”

The demonstrators call to boycott Monsanto-owned companies that
use GMOs in their products. The activists also demand proper
labeling for GMO products and to repeal relevant provisions of
the US's Monsanto Protection Act.

22:41 GMT: More than 200 people gathered in
Orlando, Florida as part of the world-wide March Against
Monsanto.

"We believe we are making a contribution to improving
agriculture by helping farmers produce more from their land while
conserving natural resources such as water and energy," a
protester told told the Orlando Sentinel.

22:17 GMT: Dressed as bees anti Monsanto
marchers in San Francisco have crossed the famous Golden Gate
Bridge for a picture perfect moment. The line stretched for miles
as they crossed the Bay Area’s landmark. Protesters are demanding
to protect the “food supply from poison, corruption and
domination." Activists also gathered to express their
support for local farmers and encourage more organic farming to
protect the planet. They also wanted to raise awareness and
support for “organic, sustainable solutions.”

21:21 GMT: The March in Milwaukee against
Monsanto started near the City Hall and went past the Chamber of
Commerce. The activists gathered to draw attention to the
“relationship with our food system, the market that controls
it, and its sources in Nature.”

The goal of the rally is to push through projects “that
embrace the need for integrated solutions to reconnect our modern
lifestyle to our food system and the land around us.”
Activists also called on the city officials to become leaders of
“sustainability and conservation.” The demonstration
also demanded a referendum on whether to label GMO food.

18:20 GMT: Protesters in Helsinki occupy the
city center in protest of Monsanto and associated GMO products.

16:08 GMT: The US-based protests occurred in 47
states nationwide and were especially significant as October is
for Agent Orange Awareness Month, currently being promoted by the
Children of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance (COVVHA). Monsanto
was one of the manufacturers of wartime Agent Orange for the US
government. Demonstrations took place in New York, Chicago and
Colorado, among others.

15:55 GMT: The various locations at which
protests are taking place worldwide. Some 500 cities are hosting anti-Monsanto
and anti GMO marches, spread out over some 50 different
countries.

15:47 GMT: German protests aren't just confined
to Berlin; hundreds are marching in Munich, in Germany's south
east. In July, Monsanto dropped its bid to get more genetically modified
crops onto the European market due to the wide-spread popular
opposition.

15:20 GMT: Washington DC has been overrun by a
swarm of 'human bees,' mourning their fallen brothers.
Controversial insecticides acting on the nervous system – known
as neonicotinoids – have been repeatedly linked to bee deaths.
However, it isn't only the neonicotinoids that have been causing
problems for the bee population. In July, scientists from the University of Maryland and
the US Department of Agriculture published a
study that linked chemicals, including fungicides, to the
mass
die-offs.

15:00 GMT: London protests have made it to the
Houses of Parliament.Hundreds of Londoners marched peacefully on
the Minister of Health's London office. The city also
participated in May's wave of protests, which drew some 300
participants in London alone. Over 400 cities worldwide took part
in the earlier event.

13:45 GMT: Further marches are scheduled for Chicago at
noon. Over 700 people will be attending, according to the event's
Facebook page.
13:30 GMT: Crowds are gathering in Strasbourg, Brussels
and Lisbon to join the worldwide protests. In August, one of
France’s top courts threw out a ban on genetically modified corn,
which had been in place since March 2012.

12:40 GMT: RT’s Peter Oliver was live in Berlin
for the March against Monsanto event, speaking to nutritionist
Heidi Osterman and Vice President of the True Food Foundation,
Dietrich Wittel.

They express a fear that with the coming trade agreement between
Europe and North America, Monsanto will never leave Europe.
Instead, the laws and rules that apply in America will be
protecting Monsanto in European countries as well.

11:20 GMT: Colin O'Neil from the Center for Food
Safety told RT about the kind of pressure companies like Monsanto
can exert on politicians as they push through laws and patents
that work against the farmer.

11:17 GMT: People in locations as remote as the
French island of Reunion also host their marches.

10:40 GMT: A video from Youtube user Charlie
Spiering shows the scene at the US Senate on October 11, when a
woman threw around $2000 in bills inside the building to
highlight the fact that despite the government shutdown being in
place in the US, Monsanto are "still paying Congress
members."

10:34 GMT: The atmosphere in San Diego,
California, a night before the march was to begin.

09:00 GMT: A few minutes ago, the Moscow's own
'A March With Corn' got underway, as dozens of activists walked
down the city's central streets passing out ears of corn grown
without the use of GMO.

People started marching from the Kuznetsky Most station and
informed potential marchers that "We can be recognized by the
corn in our hands."

The 'Russia Without GMO' campaign started in the Spring of 2013,
and is expected to collect one million signatures.

On September 23, Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has
signed a law that would allow the planting of GMO seeds in
Russia, the first of its kind.

08:28 GMT: On October, 5, Movement against
Monsanto launched a global 'Twitter storm' asking people to tweet
and post certain hash-tags as frequently as possible.

They explained in a statement that “The goal of this Twitter
storm is to get the March and info about GMOs trending on Twitter
and Facebook and to build awareness about Monsanto and their
dangerous products and policies.”

08:15 GMT: A total of 52 countries and over 500
cities across six continents are estimated to be participating in
the worldwide march against the GMO corporation.

08:10 GMT: The Sydney march is underway, as well
as Perth and Adelaide, in Australia.

07:40 GMT: The London march is underway,
attended by Dr. Vandana Shiva of the Fortnight of Action for Seed
& Food Freedom. Dr. Shiva campaigns for seed sovereignty and
freedom of information on food. The London MAM will have her
speaking.